Luminous attachment for lock barrels



Jan. 3, 1956 B. HEINZ LUMINOUS ATTACHMENT F OR LOCK BARRELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 29, 1952 I N V EN TOR.

I "'W/ 5f Bern qrd He in):

Jan. 3, 1956 Filed Dec. 29, 1952 B. HEINZ 2,729,749

LUMINOUS ATTACHMENT FOR LOCK BARRELS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. fierrg rd He i n:

United States Patent 2,729,749 LUMINO S ATT ME T DR LOCKBARREL Bernard Heinz, Scranton, Pa.

Appl ea ion Dec mber 2 1 52, S ia No- 2 ,387

2 Claims. (Cl. 250-,76)

This in en on re te o a lumin u at a hment fo leek ba r ls,

An obieet is t p o ide a s lfum nou uide for a keyhole of a eek. o m e h h umi ous e n pr v des a firs guide eleme lea in to a s con ay, and hence i to he keyho e whereby t e k y ol will not. only be apparent in the dark, but also whereby in th ark, as l as in th i htthe key m y h appli to nd inserted in the l thout a pers n havi to j b at h e k o find th yh l Another object of this invention is to provide a lumi ou at a h t which n oop rat o i h an au il ary y. guide i p rmit the in r io of the ke into the keyhole of the lock barrel without jabb ng,

A further object of this invention is to provide a luminous attachment including an improved auxiliary key guide and means for holding the auxiliary key guide in registry with the keyhole of the lock barrel.

A further'objeet of this invenion ie to provide an attachment for a lock embodying a luminous; ring adapted to encircle the'outerend of a lock barrel and to be secured to the escutcheon plate for the lock structure so that the key may be inserted in the keyhole without jabbing of the key.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the arrangement, combination and details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a detailed front elevation of a luminous guide attachment for a lock constructed according to an embodiment of this invention,

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a detailed front elevation of the guide lock,

Figure 5A is a sectional view taken on the line 5A--5A of Figure 5,

Figure 6 is a detailed front elevation of the key guide,

Figure 6A is a sectional view taken on the line 6A6A of Figure 6,

Figure 6B is a sectional view of the key guide, showing a modified form of the guide,

Figure 7 is a detailed front elevation of a modified form of this invention,

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 88 of Figure 7,

Figure 9 is a detailed front elevation of another modification of this invention,

Figure 10 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 10-10 of Figure 9,

Figure 11 is a detailed side elevation of another form of this invention,

F g e 2 is a de led tro elev tion o the e -l; structure shown in Figure 11,

Figure 13 is a agm nta y ec iona i w taken on the line 13-43 of Figure 12,

e r n to th d a s nd, rst to Fi ure l to A inclusive, e um ra 15 desi na es ge erally a conven tional lock structure of the tumbler type, embodying a r l 6 dapt o b o te by means f a key whi h s e en ro h t ey p i 7- T e lee SIX"? ture 15 includes a flange 18 which is adapted to be disposed at the outerside of a door or; closure 19,

n eh o Pl te 20 's d s-Posed at the o ter end of the lock 15 and is provided with a rearwardly project? ing annular fl e adapte o abut aga nst he ou er side of the closure 19.

A n 2 e i aan inne annular: flan e this adanted to engage about the flange 18 of the lock strueture 15, and the y n i al flang 2,2. s-ete ided with e pp si ely disposed r o ard y proje in loc in a e Which e n ese e b nea h a pain i n ar ly proi ns locking fl s. 25 arri d. by e annular fla ge 21. I

A ring-shared s tan ia y ran pare mem er 1 s disposed h n t rd y Proje ti er nddr fla ge. T a d byh Plat 20, b g seeur d n he f n 27 by pressing the outer end of the flange 2 7into a al o a a gr o 8 orm d in e pe iphery o the ring 26. The inner end of the ring zfi has radiurn or other luminous material 29 painted thereon, whereby he ri g .6 w ll he uminous n. th dark.- 7

A. e uide 30 i di po ed Wi hin he in 6 and t m it an ann ar dens .31 enga n n, open: ing 32 med in h P at The key uide 30 is held against rotation relative to the lock barrel 16 so that the keyhole 33 in the guide 30 will be in alignment with the keyhole 17, by means of a disc-shaped plate 34 which bears against the inner end of the guide 30 and the outer end of the barrel 16.

The plate or disc 34 is formed with a keyhole 35 and is also formed with an inwardly projecting finger 36 which is engageable in the lower end of the keyhole 17. The plate 34 is also provided with an outwardly projecting finger 37 at the opposite end of the keyhole 35, which is engageable in a keyhole 33 of guide 30 at the upperend of the keyhole 33. In this manner the guide 30 will be locked against rotation relative to the lock barrel 16. The outer side of the guide 30 is of concave configuration, as indicated at 38, so that when a key is inserted within the ring 26, the key Will slide over the concave surface 38 into the keyhole 33. This sliding action of the key will eliminate any jabbing of the end of the key against the outer or auxiliary key guide 30.

Referring now to Figure 63, there is disclosed a modified form of key guide which is similar to the guide 30, with the exception that the outer side 39 of the key guide is of convex configuration. In other respects the guide 30a is similar to the guide 30.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, there is disclosed another modification of this invention, wherein the luminous ring 40 is mounted on the outer end of a lock structure which is mounted in a door knob 41. The lock structure 42 which is within the door knob 41, includes a lock barrel 43 rotatable within the lock housing 44, and the latter is formed with an outer annular flange 45. A cap generally indicated at 46 engages over the outer end of the lock structure 42 and includes an annular flange 47 which is disposed tightly about the art-- nular flange 45, being pressed or otherwise firmly secured thereon.

The outer wall 48 of the cap 46 is provided with an annular flange 49 within which the ring 40 is secured by crimping the flange 48 into a shallow groove 50 which is formed in the ring 40. A key guide 51, similar to either guide 30 or guide 30a, is rotatably mounted interiorly of the ring 40 and within an opening 52 which is formed in the outer wall 48. The guide 51 is held against rotation relative to the lock barrel 43 by means of a holding disc 53, similar to disc 34.

Referring now to Figures 9 and 10, there is disclosed another modification of this invention, wherein a luminous ring 54 is mounted in the outer end of a sleeve 55. The sleeve 55 is telescoped over the outer end of a'cylindrical shell 56 which encases a lock barrel 57. A key guide 58, similar to the guide 30 or the guide 30a, is rotatably disposed within the sleeve 55 and at the inner end of the ring 54. A locking member 59 is interposed between the guide 58 and the outer end of the barrel 57 and is similar in every detail to the guide locking member 34, shown in Figures 5 and 5A.

Referring now to Figures 11, 12 and 13 there is disclosed another modification of this invention wherein a luminous ring 60 is mounted in a cylindrical housing 61 having a reduced cylindrical member 62 extending from the inner end thereof, which is tightly mounted on the outer end of a lock structure 63. The lock structure 63 is slidable in a lock housing 64, being movable ini wardly of the housing 64 when a key is inserted within the lock barrel 65. A key guide 66, similar to guide 30 or guide 30a, is interposed between the ring 60 and the shoulder 67 formed between the housing 61 and the sleeve 62. A locking member 68, similar to locking member 34, is interposed between the guide 58 and the outer end of the lock barrel '57, for holding the guide 58 against rotation relative to the barrel 57.

The configuration of the luminous attachment herein disclosed with the improved key guide is such that when the end of the key to be inserted into the lock barrel strikes any point from the inner portion of the luminous ring to the keyhole, the key will slide inwardly toward the keyhole. In this manner there will be no fumbling or jabbing of the key as the key will smoothly slide in the direction of the keyhole.

I do not means to confine myself to the exact details of construction herein disclosed, but claim all variations falling within the purview of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A luminous attachment for locks comprising a transparent ring, a luminous coating on the inner end of said ring, means fixedly securing said ring relative to the lock structure with said ring concentric to the lock barrel, a key guide plate interposed between said ring and the outer end of the lock barrel, said plate having a keyhole, a lock plate interposed between said guide plate and the outer end of the lock barrel, and oppositely extending locking fingers carried by said lock plate engageable respectively in the keyhole of said guide plate and the keyhole of the lock barrel for locking said guide plate relative to said lock barrel.

2. A luminous attachment for locks comprising a luminous ring, a circular holder about said ring, a plate fixed to the inner end of said holder, a cylindrical flange carried by said plate, a pair of oppositely disposed inwardly projecting locking flanges carried by said cylindrical flange, a cylindrical member engageable about the outer end of the lock structure, an inwardly projecting annular flange carried by said member engageable with said lock structure for holding said member against outward movement, and a pair of outwardly projecting locking flanges carried by said member engageable with said first-named locking flanges to thereby lock said plate relative to said lock structure with said ring concentric to the lock barrel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,188,264 Fordyce Jan. 23, 1940 2,503,044 Guerra Apr. 4, 1950 2,566,490 Heinz Sept. 4, 1951 2,579,146 Heinz Dec. 18, 1951 

